Impressions: A What If Story
by Eastonia
Summary: Drabble-fics. What if Dick's parents didn't die that day? Would he still become the original Robin? What if destiny and what was supposed to be bled over into this reality? And how on earth did he get the Bat to accept him?
1. An Unknown Legacy

AN:- I found TwinEnigma's drawings on deviantart and… well her headcanon is running amok in my headcanon and oh my goodness they started to merge and gosh, I need to ask her if I can borrow elements like Damian as Nightwing and her 'Rookery' concept and anyways…. So, do you ever get the feeling that you know something, but its beyond your physical capacities? Not just the technicalities but how it feels? That got me thinking. What if Dick's parents didn't die on that day? The guy seems destined to be a hero no matter what (hello Flashpoint-verse "Dicktor Fate"). And what if what was supposed to be bled over? So this was born…

* * *

><p><strong>Impressions AU: An Unknown Legacy<strong>

He took ill two days before their opening Gotham performance when he was eight. The close quarters meant that John and Mary Grayson followed soon after. Thus, with apologies made to the crowd, the Grayson family huddled up in their trailer on opening night. That's when things for Dick started to get strange.

It didn't feel right to see them around every day, and he always had this feeling of downright gratefulness around them, to see them alive.

Their tenure in Gotham would last another 2 months but already it started to feel more like home than the open road ever did. He grew attached, what could he say? But other things seemed to be happening to him that he knew was not supposed to happen to any ordinary child.

His mum knew he was bright. His dad knew that too, so did the online teacher that homeschooled his class.

But one day, after he had finished all his homework, and the extras, he emailed the teacher asking for more work (because he had finished all his studies and chores and he had already helped everyone around the tents and he was becoming more of a nuisance than a help) and she emailed him back High School Sophomore work (when he was nine) alarm bells started ringing.

He collected himself and calmed his racing heart and shallow breaths with a zen technique that he shouldn't know but does anyway and heads out into a blind spot of the circus, that no one noticed but him, but really though, since when did he notice these things or was everybody blind?

He's twelve when he realises that he's been keeping odder hours than the rest of the folk. He's thirteen when the offer to study at Brixton lands on his door.

On a full scholarship no less!

It takes begging and pleading and promises of all sorts (like he'd go to college for his Mum's sake and etc.) but he joins the spring semester and his family finally puts down roots (so near to Gotham, he finally feels somewhat sated). Mum retakes a couple of exams and opens a dental practice while father, somehow it doesn't feel right to call him Dad anymore, like the title should go to another, snatches up a job coaching a gymnastics centre.

And there is a dojo right there in Brixton and suddenly, everything again feels a little better. Dad enrols him in classes straight away.

But after a few sessions, one of his Shifu's asks him to take over a class, and doesn't he want to try out for a black belt?

Something in him, engrained from that night that they didn't perform told him to say no, that he couldn't compromise his position.

So he said no.

It was then he realised three things; he was nearly 14, and he already showed the signs of a developing martial artist's body, the times he ran off into that blind spot and just moved was him going through drills, and that same something knew that things were not quite right.

When he turned fourteen the nightly wanderlust turned intense and he couldn't ignore Gotham's siren call.

Pulling out his old Flying Graysons uniform (which he had been adjusting the past few nights until he was sure his mother would not recognise it, aka he added leggings and other stuff) and a domino mask, he took to the rooftops and flew.

Instinctively, while heading toward the skylight with the Bat symbol, he stopped five muggings, six would-be rapes, seven small-time heists and one drug deal. He didn't know how he did it, just that he did and it felt right.

It felt like he had been doing this since he was nine.

When he reached the light he saw him.

The Bat.

Part of him wanted to gaze in awe, ask his autograph maybe, but another part, a part that grew stronger with every breath he took in Gotham, told him to stay professional, and stay alert.

He followed Batman to a location where Two-face was supposed to be.

Twenty minutes later he found himself back to back with him and a pile of thugs on either side.

The ache in his soul had finally died down. He was home.

Then the Bat glared at him, strangely enough, he didn't feel any of the terror that the criminals did, just the urge to raise an eyebrow and say.

"You're supposed to be the World's Greatest Detective. Figure me out."

Handspring back, take the rooftop express back to Brixton.

"By the way…"

A hand brushing his face. A motherly smile. Spring.

"Call me Robin."

* * *

><p>AN:- You know you want to review….


	2. A Tenuous Partnership

AN:- So, do you ever get the feeling that you know something, but its beyond your physical capacities? Not just the technicalities but how it feels? That got me thinking. What if Dick's parents didn't die on that day? The guy seems destined to be a hero no matter what (hello Flashpoint-verse "Dicktor Fate"), so An Unknown Legacy came along. This is a slight follow up about Batman taking Robin under his wing. And how exactly Robin got there...

* * *

><p><strong>Impressions AU: A Tenuous Partnership <strong>

* * *

><p>One thing he never expected was how right having a partner felt.<p>

The boy was 14, and should have been fool-hardy in his brightly coloured, no protection at all costume. But he wasn't, and he knew how to compensate for the flimsy material that he wore over their past few encounters.

The fact that he knew exactly how to cover his tracks and hide from the Bat was intriguing. It suggested detective training almost equal to his own, that should have meant child of a police officer or private eye. He was skilled in what appeared to be numerous martial arts, but the base style he fought on was similar to his own. The boy even was a master at escapology!

During the summer, Batman approached him about an undercover mission. The boy accepted, asked for a forgery of a summer camp acceptance sheet and the means to convince his parent so (he had parents! Parents! Why was he doing this then? And why did he feel so connected by tragedy to this young man when it was obvious there was none?).

In the two weeks they posed as father and son tycoon powers Matthew Matches and Robert Matches, he learnt more about the boy such as the fact that he was able to disguise himself on a level nearly akin to his, that he was comfortable in pretending to be a part of the so called upper class socialites of America, and that he knew many, many languages.

All this led to only one conclusion. He raised this child. And he couldn't remember for the life of him how or when it happened because he couldn't remember ever adopting, or teaching anyone for that matter.

So he tests the child one night. Although they have been working together for some time now, he needed to know that he could survive the streets. So he proposed that on the second last day of the supposed 'camp', he would go through a Gauntlet. If he survived it, Batman would become his official sponsor and mentor. If he didn't, he would tell his parents and give up the current lifestyle he now led.

Secretly he hoped for either way to happen. Making him dive out of the business would keep this impetuous child that he grew to care for, safe. But if he passed the Gauntlet, he would have the equipment he needed to fight on.

Brains and brawn only took you so far. In this business, you needed equipment and funding too.

Robin agreed.

* * *

><p>Dick had been camping out in the woods the last 3 days of the 'camp'. Each night he made certain to set up an EMP. Batman had given him one day to rest, one day to prepare and one night to prove himself. Trouble was, where could you hide from the Batman?<p>

Robin was not gaining the reputation as the World's Greatest Teen Detective for nothing, even if he followed the instinct his gut hold him ninety percent of the time. If he, Dick Grayson passed this, he would finally gain formal training in the activity that soothed the ache that told him, this is where you are meant to be.

Of course, there was still the measure of parents to dodge. He glowed with silent pride every time his parents praised the exploits of the Boy Wonder, and he ducked his head in subtle shame when they scolded the parents of that same boy, not knowing it was their son.

Still where could you hide from the Bat? The answer was: right under his nose.

He figured out the Bat's real identity a few years ago actually, when he was still on the road and the ache had been growing stronger (leaving anonymous tips, disguising his voice to the police, soothed his that ache for a time then). He noticed irregularities in a certain billionaire's character. How Batman and Bruce's disappearance matched up. But that was when he had absolute proof.

His gut convicted him that Bruce Wayne was Batman in the month after their illness.

See? Simple. He would hide in plain sight.

* * *

><p>Bruce was not a happy Bat.<p>

He had been following false leads the whole night. There was exactly 10 minutes to dawn left. Robin was due to return from 'camp' at 5.30 pm, as per his request.

He had been trying to figure out where his mysterious partner came from. But always, somewhere in the woods, the tracking device would disappear. Every single one he planted. This showed that either the kid was paranoid enough to make a note of every one that he placed, or that Robin was prepared enough to have an EMP generator on hand.

5 minutes left.

It was a rather unhappy Bat that returned to the cave. He hung up the cowl nodded to Alfred, and thanked heaven that it was Saturday.

Time ran out.

A stone skipped down in front of him. A message written on it.

_Bats in the belfry. Robins in the sky. Birdsong lilts as the sun does rise._

Bruce smiled and raced outside the house, dragging Alfred (who truly believed it was a phenomenon that Bruce was smiling genuinely) along.

* * *

><p>A brightly coloured figure sat in between the shadows that fell in between aspects of the Manor architecture. He flipped down and smirked at his civilian persona.<p>

"Hey Batman."

"I'm not."

The boy had immediately produced a couple of files and handed them over. The last thing at the back was a detailed case report with conclusions. Each pointed at the little flaws in his act and linked it to another. He had taken what everyone else dismissed as coincidence and joined the dots.

He had figured him out.

And he didn't know exactly who this boy was (though he had a feeling, he wasn't inclined to give into those feelings, you wanted a case? You needed hard evidence. Just like the two inconspicuous files in which held his greatest secret), but actually? It was fine. He'd figure it out later.

The boy would make an excellent soldier.

* * *

><p><strong>AN:- <strong>I actually enjoyed working on this a little more than the other two… Okay, fine, I hit a writers block. This was the result of me trying to overcome it. So yes, another drabble (: . It shows how the Dynamic Duo officially became partners in a world where what was supposed to be leaked into reality via gut feelings and sudden gaining of skills.


	3. SAVE DICK GRAYSON and Notice

Note from Eastonia,

I promised myself I would not come back here till the things I previously stated were rectified. I have to go back on my word for one reason.

Dick Grayson is in danger.

If you love a certain Boy Wonder and want to prevent something like his demise from happening (or for more details) please go over to  
>Change. org and search for "Save Dick Grayson". This is on a timeline people. He has only until April (so really, mid-March). Alternatively contact me for the link.<p>

The link is (remove spaces please!)

change en-GB/petitions/dc-comics-save-d i c k-grayson-2

Also, I'm slowly getting back on my feet (in terms of writing stories) after my boycott.

From now on I'll be Eastonia over at AO3 - don't really like it (format s a little confusing for me) but I feel it is necessary. My previous stories are undergoing a revamp. There will be minor changes - just to improve flow and grammar and things like that.

But to let you know the order of revamp...

Five Years On AU (and it's other related stuff) fics first.

Then The Shift!Verse fics.

Then The Keeper's fics.

Thanks for following me.

This is Eastonia signing off.


	4. Challenge

DICK GRAYSON BIRTH MONTH CHALLENGE.

Hi there.

My, well penname I suppose, is Eastonia.

I'm helping to campaign for the SAVE DICK GRAYSON petition. So I've thought up of this.

Dick Grayson's birth month is March, so from tomorrow onwards I challenge you to do one of two things. Use the writing prompts below (there are 31 in all) to write something every day. Or you could try and write a chaptered fic of at least 10,000 words in that time.

So the rules?

Must be:-

Dick Grayson centric.

Gen. (Or with very minor focus on pairings.)

Actually, that's it.

On the other hand, I will be needing staff to help me out with the community I'll be establishing and to trail through the different Fandoms to place it there (PM me if you would like to do this!). I will also need readers to vote – via review system. The more reviews a story has, the closer the story gets to becoming the winner of a category (TBA).

The winners (with permission) stories will be posted onto the SAVE DICK GRAYSON Facebook page.

So without further ado the prompts are (in chronological order for the days of March):-

1. Insomniac.

2. A stolen ring.

3. Spider

4. Dyspnoea (AKA shortness of breath.)

5. Tachycardia (AKA an unusually fast heartbeat.)

6. Firefly.

7. Doppelganger.

8. Riddle.

9. Teenager.

10. Matchstick.

11. Force.

12. Prologue.

13. Epilogue.

14. Guitar.

15. Middle.

16. Climax.

17. Talons.

18. The Round Table.

19. Sword.

20. Magic.

21. Birthday! (Basically – a write whatever you want day. It _is_ the original Robin's birthday.)

22. Prodigal.

23. Runs in the family.

24. Wanderlust.

25. Wildcard.

26. To lead.

27. Carpe diem.

28. Spot of wax.

29. Origins.

30. Resolutions.

31. Safe and sound.

Have fun! And remember to mention that you are undertaking the challenge (we do need to find your fic after all)! BTW please show your support and sign the petition (remove the commas)  
>https,:,,/,www,.,change,.,org,/,en-GB,/,petitions,/,dc-comics-save-d,i,c,k-grayson-2

Cheers,

Eastonia.


End file.
